On July 10, the FCC issued an Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order (“Order”) about the TCPA that immediately went into effect. While we support the concept of preserving consumers' rights to privacy on their cell phones and protecting financial information, this Order goes far beyond the scope or purpose of the TCPA - which incidentally was enacted in 1991 before cell phones and mobile devices were commonly used. The Order disregards consumers' preferences to use new technologies and modern forms of communication, and makes it more difficult for credit unions to communicate with their members about fraud, data breaches, and other pertinent account updates.

This latest Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was prompted by the Budget Act of 2015, (Budget Act) which amended to the TCPA to create exemptions for calls made to cell phones when collecting a debt owed to or guaranteed by the federal government. The Budget Act required that if calls are made solely pursuant to the collection of a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States, the caller is no longer required to have the prior express consent of the recipient. However, the FCC's rule takes a narrow reading of this law, and requires several conditions surrounding these calls.

The scope of this proposed rule is specific to the issue of the amendments made to the TCPA by the Budget act.

What does this proposed rule do?

This NPRM seeks comment on implementation of the Budget Act amendments. The FCC takes an extremely narrow reading of the Budget Act, and proposes significant restrictions on the ability of to collect the debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government. These include a limit of three calls per month and debt can only be collected when delinquent or in default. There are also restrictions on opting out including a one call limit to reassigned numbers, and calls can be opted out of at any point.

Most notably for credit unions, the FCC is seeking
comment on the meaning of “owed to or guaranteed by the United States.” This is
relevant if it were interpreted broadly enough that it includes federal student
loans, Small Business Administration loans, and federally guaranteed mortgages.

The deadline for submitting comments to the FCC is June 6, 2016. However, we would like comments to CUNA by June 1. Our comment call page is here.

Credit Union National Association is the most influential financial services trade association and the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America's credit unions. We work tirelessly to protect your best interests in Washington and all 50 states. We fuel your professional growth at every level and champion the credit union story at every turn.